Locks

ABSTRACT

THE UNBRELLA LOCK HAS A PAIR OF JAWS DEFINING AN OPEN ENDED SLOT, THE JAWS BEING SPACED APART BY A DISTANCE SUCH THAT A PORTION OF AN UMBRELLA ABOVE THE FULL FOLDED THICKNESS OF THE UNBRELLA OF A GENTLEMAN&#39;&#39;S STANDARD UMBRELLA CAN PASS THEREBETWEN, BT THE FULL FOLDED THICKNESS IS PREVENTED FROM SO PASSING THROUGH. THE OPEN END OF HE SLOT IS CLOSED BY A FLAP OR THE LIKE WHICH IS PIVOTED TO THE EDGE OF ONE JAW AND ENGAGES THE OTHER JAW. A LOCK IS PROVIDED TO LOCK THE FLAP TO THE SAID OTHER JAW. THE LOCK MAY COMPRISE A BODY HAVING A SLOT FOR RECEIVING A SUITABLE KEY. A TONGUE IS SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN THE BODY AND BIASED TO AN EXTERNAL POSITION WHEREIN A PORTION OF THE TONGUE PROJECTS FROM THE BODY. THE TONGUE HAS A PROJECTING PIN WHICH EXTENDS INTO THE PATH OF THE KEY IN THE SLOT, SO THAT WHEN THE KEY IS INSERTED INTO THE SLOT IT ENGAGES THE PIN, AND SO THAT FURTHER DEPRESSION OF THE KEY INTO THE SLOT CAUSES MOVEMENT OF THE PIN AND THS CASES RETRACTION OF THE TONGUE FROM ITS EXTENDED POSITION.

Feb. 23, 1971 B", ALBERY 3,564,877

LOCKS Filed Oct. 25, 1968 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll B. ALBERY Feb. 23, 1971v LOCKS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 25, 1968 United States Patent US.Cl. 70-59 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The umbrella lock has apair of jaws defining an open ended slot, the jaws being spaced apart bya distance such that a portion of an umbrella above the full foldedthickness of the umbrella of a gentlemans standard umbrella can passtherebetween, but the full folded thickness is prevented from so passingthrough. The open end of the slot is closed by a flap or the like whichis pivoted to the edge of one jaw and engages the other jaw. A look isprovided to lock the fiap to the said other jaw. The lock may comprise abody having a slot for receiving a suitable key. A tongue is slid-ablymounted in the body and biased to an external position wherein a portionof the tongue projects from the body. The tongue has a projecting pinwhich extends into the path of the key in the slot, so that when the keyis inserted into the slot it engages the pin, and so that furtherdepression of the key into the slot causes movement of the pin and thuscauses retraction of the tongue from its extended position.

This invention relates to locks and to lock devices.

In the entertainment and catering industries particularly there is aneed to supply patrons with cloakroom facilities, and often, to avoidtheft of articles which have been deposited in such a cloakroom, it isnecessary to employ an attendant to supervise the cloakroom. In thiscase it is usual for the attendant to exchange a ticket for an article,such as a coat, to be deposited, and to return the article when theticket is produced by the patron.

Such cloakrooms are inconvenient to patrons since they usually have toqueue in order to retrieve their belongings and they are oftendiscouraged from using the cloakrooms, preferring instead to keep theircoats with them. Proprietors find that such cloakrooms are undesirablyexpensive to run in that an attendant has to be employed.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a lock and/or lockingdevices which are suitable for installation in a self service cloakroomof for example theatres, dance halls.

According to the invention a lock comprises a body having a slot forreceiving a suitable key, a tongue slidably mounted in the body andbiased to an extended position wherein a portion of the tongue projectsfrom the body, the tongue having a projecting pin which extends into thepath of the key in the slot so that when the key is inserted into theslot it engages the pin and so that further depression of the key intothe slot causes movement of the pin and thus causes retraction of thetongue from its extended position.

A lock as thus defined will hereinafter be referred to as a spade lock.Such a spade lock is very suitable for use in cloakrooms in that it maybe simply constructed and hence cheap to manufacture, and is easily andquickly operated in that mere depression of the key in the slot releasesthe lock. Such a key lock may for example be applied to the umbrellalocks or clothing locks which form other features of this invention.

An umbrella lock according to the invention comprises a pair of jawsdefining an open end slot the jaws being 3,564,877 Patented Feb. 23,1971 spaced apart by a distance such that a portion of an umbrella abovethe full folded thickness of the material of a gentlemans standardumbrella can pass therebetween but the full folded thickness isprevented from passing through, the open end of the slot being closed bya flap or the like which is pivoted to the edge of one jaw and engagesthe other jaw, a lock being provided to lock the flap to the said otherjaw. The flap of the umbrella lock is preferably locked by means of thespade lock of the invention.

The dimensions of the slot when closed by the flap may be such that thecrooked or curved portion of the umbrella handle may not be drawnthrough the slot and in this case the flap may be constructed so that itmay be locked in an adjustiable position so that the length of the slotmay be vane In order further to restrain the umbrella from being turnedto try to pass the handle through the closed slot, the umbrella lock maybe installed in combination with restraining means through which a lowerportion of the umbrella is passed the umbrella lock being mounted on afixed surf-ace and the restraining means being mounted a distance belowthe umbrella lock to restrain the movement of the lower part of theumbrella in position in the lock so that the crooked or curved portionof the umbrella handle may not be drawn through the closed slot of theumbrella lock.

The umbrella lock may also be installed at a distance above a horizontalsurface not exceeding 30 inches from the surface to the lower end of theslot.

According to the invention a lock device for clothing comprises incombination a support for the clothing (preferably a coathanger) a bondone end of which is intended to be secured to a fixed surface, and meansfor locking the other end of the bond to a fixed surface.

To make use of the lock device a patron hangs his coat for example, onthe clothing support passes the bond through a convenient hole forexample a sleeve of the coat and locks the free end of the bond to thefixed surface with the locking means.

Thus a cloakroom having installed in it locks and/or lock devicesaccording to the invention is of benefit to both the patrons and theproprietor; the patrons are provided with a more convenient service, theproprietor does not need to employ a cloakroom attendant.

The locking means of the device is preferably an umbrella lock.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear view of a spade lock according to the invention, withits rear cover plate removed;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the spade lock of FIG. 1 with its front coverplate removed;

F 1516. 3 is a view of the catch plate of the spade lock of FIG. 4 is aperspective detail of a part of the spade lock of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates a spade-key suitable for use with the spade lock ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an umbrella lock according to theinvention which incorporates the spade lock of FIG 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one installation of the umbrella lock ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a clothing lock according to the invention,which incorporates the umbrella lock of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing installation details of the clothing lockof FIG. 8.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the body 2 of the spade lock has twoslots 4 and 6 in which are slidably mounted two tongues 8 andrespectively (see FIG. 1). The tongues 8 and 10 (illustrated in FIG. 4)are biased to an extended position by springs 12 wherein a portion 14 ofeach tongue extends from the body of the lock.

The tongues 8 and 10 cooperate with a strike plate 16 as is hereinafterdescribed and explained.

The body 2 of the lock also has a key slot 18 into which a suitable flatkey 20 may be inserted (see FIGS. 2 and 6). Two slots 22 and 24 connectthe key slot 18 with the tongue slots 4 and 6 respectively. Each of thetongues 8 and 10 has a pin 26 which projects through the respective slot22 and 24 into the path of the key 20 in the key slot 18. As the body isclosed, a cam surface 28 of the projecting portion 14 of each of thetongues 8 and 10 engages the catch plate 16, further movement towardsthe closed position of the body causes the tongue to be urged into aretracted position against the bias of the springs 12. When the body isfully closed the tongue 10 is urged by its bias-spring 12 into a slot 30in the catch plate 16. The tongue 8 remains in its retracted position.The spade lock is now closed and locked.

To open the spade lock, key 20 is inserted into the key slot 18. As thekey is inserted it passes pin 26 of the tongue 8, which is retracted(see FIG. 2 in which two positions of the key are shown in chain-dottedoutline), a cam surface 32 of the key then engages the pin 26 of thetongue 10. Further depression of the key in slot 18 causes the pin 26 tomove to the right as seen in FIG. 2 thus retracting the tongue 10 fromits extended position. When the tongue 10 has retracted sufiiciently sothat it is no longer engaged in slot 30 of the catch plate the bodyopens under the biasing action of a spring 34.

The key 20 is prevented from further depression in the key slot 18 by astop 36. When the bottom of the key is engaged against the stop 36 anotch 38 of the key is in line with the pin 26 of the tongue 8. Thetongue 8 is free to move under the action of its bias spring 12 since itno longer engages the catch plate 16. The tongue 8 thus moves to itsextended position and its pin 26 engages in notch 38 of the keypreventing the key from being removed. Removal of the key is enabledwhen the body is closed because the tongue 8 is then in its retractedposition.

Pins 40, 42 and 44 project into the path of the key in the key slot 18so that unless the key has a correspond ing arrangement of slots 46, 48and 50, respectively, it may not be inserted sufiiciently far into thekey slot 18 to cause retracting of the tongue 10.

A front coverplate 52 and a rear coverplate (not shown) are secured byrivets 54 over the slot 4, 6 and 18.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7 it will be seen that the spade lock mayvery suitably be incorporated in an umbrella lock which is anotherfeature of the invention.

The umbrella lock hereinbefore described may conveniently be used inconjunction with the clothing lock which forms another feature of theinvention.

The umbrella lock comprises a body having a pair of jaws 62 and 64defining an open ended slot 66. The jaws are spaced apart by a distancesuch that a portion of an umbrella above the full folded thickness ofthe material of the gentlemans standard umbrella can pass between thejaws. The body 60 is provided with screws for securing it to a fixed bar72.

A flap which comprises the body of the spade lock is pivotally hinged byhinge pin 74 to the jaw 62 so that the flap may be shut to close theopen end of the slot 66. The strike plate 16 is mounted on the jaw 64.The slot 66 is also so dimensioned so that when the flap is in itsclosed position the full folded thickness of the material of theumbrella may not be drawn through. A gentlemans standard umbrella canhave differing amounts of material but in general the minimum distancearound the periphery of the folded material is not less than about 3 /2inches at its full thickness and is normally about 4" to 4 /2". The

maximum thickness is not important provided that a position above thematerial will pass between its jaws.

The dimensions of the slot 66 when the flap is closed may be chosen sothat the curved or crooked portion of the handle of a gentlemansstandard umbrella may not pass through. A ladys umbrella often has aloop which may be looped round one of the jaws of the umbrella lockbefore the flap is locked.

There may be, however, a large variation in the shape and dimensions ofthe crooked or curved portion of the handle of a gentlemans standardumbrella which may make it difficult to chose suitable dimensions forthe close slot 66 in order to prevent withdrawal of the curved orcrooked portion of the handle of the umbrella through the slot. Thisdifi lculty is overcome by the installation illustrated in FIG. 7 inwhich the umbrella lock is mounted on a fixed surface such as bar 72 andrestraining means 76 is fixedly mounted at a distance below the umbrellalock. The dimensions of the restraining means and its spacing from theumbrella lock is chosen so that the movement of the umbrella issufficiently limited to prevent the curved or crooked portion of theumbrella from being drawn through the slot 66 when it closed by theflap.

The above mentioned difficulty may also be overcome by providing theslot 66 with a stiffly resilient lining or by providing catch plate 16with a plurality of slots notches such as slot 30, so that the fiap maybe closed to various locked positions to admit different umbrellas.

The above mentioned difficulty may further be overcome by installing thelock at a distance above a fixed horizontal surface, a floor forexample, so that the lower end of the slot 66 is not more than 30 inchesabove the surface. The gentlemans standard umbrella may not then belowered suificiently with respect to the umbrella lock to bring thecrooked or curved portion of the handle into such a position that it maybe drawn through the slot.

It will be appreciated that the umbrella lock is equally suitable for aladys umbrella and that any of the arrangements herein described ispreferably dimensioned and arranged so that it may be used to lock bothgentlemens and ladies umbrellas.

As may be seen from FIGS. 8 and 9 the clothing lock of this embodimentcomprises a support for the clothing in the form of a coathanger 82,having a closed loop 84 at its centre, to which is attached a bond inthe form of a chain 86. The chain 86 has means for locking its lower endto a fixed surface comprising a ring 88 which is attached to the lowerend of the chain, and an umbrella lock 90 (as herein described). As maybe seen from FIG. 8 the lock device is installed by passing the neckportion 92 of the coathanger through a hole 94 in a fixed bar 96 andretaining the neck in the hole with a hinge pin 98 in a suitable hole inthe neck of the coathanger, and by securing the umbrella lock to asecond fixed bar 72. The neck portion 92 of the coathanger is preferablya loose fit in the hole 94 so that the coathanger may be easily pivotedabout the hinge pin 98.

To make use of the clothing lock a patron hangs his coat on thecoathanger 82, passes the chain 86 downwards through a sleeve of thecoat, passes the chain 86 between the jaws 62 and 64 of the umbrellalock, places his umbrella (if he has one) so that a portion above thefull folded width is between the jaws, closes the flap or spade-lockbody 2 and removes the key 20. The ring 88 8 may not be drawn throughthe slot 24 and thus his coat is secured against removal.

The umbrella lock 8 is conveniently mounted directly beneath the end ofone of the arms of the coathanger 82 so that it is directly beneath thesleeve of a coat which is hung on the coathanger.

The clothing lock may have embodiments other than that described above,for example:

The support may be a coat hook or any other similar support means whichis to be screwed or otherwise fastened to a wall or fixed rail or bar.

The bond may be made of plastics material which may have for example asteel core.

The point of attachment of the fixed end of the bond may be varied, inthe case of a coathanger it may be attached to the end of one of thearms, in the case of a coat hook it may be attached to the hook or to aconveniently placed fixture which is separate from the hook.

The lock device may be used for other items of clothing besides coats,for example pullovers, cardigans, trousers, dresses, undercloths, etc.Thus for example at a swimming pool or sports centre most of a patronsclothing could be locked by using the device.

FIG. 9 illustrates typical installation details whereby a number ofclothing locks may be installed in a cloakroom.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that manymodifications and variations may be made to the embodiments of myinvention which I have specifically described, without departing fromthe scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. An umbrella lock comprising: a pair of jaws defining a slot having anopen end, the jaws being spaced apart by a distance such that a portionof an umbrella above the full folded thickness of a gentlemans standardumbrella can pass therebetween but the full folded thickness isprevented from passing through; a flap pivoted to one jaw for engagementwith the other so as to close the open end of the slot; a lock mountedon the flap and having a body in which is defined a slot for receiving asuitable key, a tongue slidably mounted in the body transversely to thekey slot and biased to an extended position wherein a portion of thetongue projects belond the flap, a pin projecting from the tongue andextending into the path of the key in the slot so that when the key isinserted into the key slot it engages the pin and so that furtherdepression of the key causes retraction of the tongue from its extendedposition; a slot being formed in the said other jaw for engagement withthe tongue when in its extended position so as to lock the flap acrossthe open end of the slot.

2. An umbrella lock as claimed in claim 1 wherein the slot, when closedby the flap, is so dimensioned that the crooked portion of the handle ofa standard gentlemans umbrella may not be drawn through the slot.

3. An umbrella lock as claimed in claim 1 in which the flap may belocked in an adjustable position so that the length of the slot can bevaried.

4. An umbrella lock as claimed in claim 1 wherein the lock has means forpreventing the removal of the key from the lock when the flap is in itsopen position.

5. An umbrella lock as claimed in claim 1 when installed withrestraining means through which in use a lower portion of the umbrellais passed, the umbrella lock being mounted on a fixed surface and therestraining means being mounted a distance below the umbrella lock torestrain the movement of the lower part of the umbrella in position inthe look so that the crooked portion of the umbrella handle may not bedrawn through the closed slot of the umbrella lock.

6. An umbrella lock as claimed in claim 1 when installed at a distanceabove a horizontal surface not exceeding 30 inches from the surface tothe lower end of the slot.

7. A combination with a lock device as set forth in claim 1, a coathanger secured against removal; a flexible chain one end of which issecured in fixed relation to the coat hanger; and means fixedly securedto the other end of the flexible chain, which means is so dimensioned asto be too large to pass through the slot of the umbrella look whenclosed by the flap.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 51,524 12/1865 Trimble 59 524,9238/1894 Whitfield 70--59 739,180 9/1903 H011 7059 799,565 9/1905 Hilbig7059X 913,188 2/1909 Backus 7059X 949,809 2/1910 Sheen 7059X 1,806,6605/1931 Backus 7062 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner E. I. MCCARTHY,Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 211-4

